A criminal complaint has been filed against a Uniontown native a year and a half after an crash in which he allegedly caused the death of a 53-year-old woman and initiated a five-vehicle accident by driving distracted.

Franklin R. Simon, 32, has been charged with one count of vehicular homicide, one count of involuntary manslaughter, four counts of recklessly endangering another person, five counts of driving a vehicle that violates state regulations, and one count of operating “television receiving equipment” in a moving vehicle.

The crash occurred on Aug. 4, 2023, when — according to an accident reconstruction — Simon was driving his red 1996 Peterbilt dump truck south on William Flynn Highway.

While traveling between 52 and 56 mph in a 40-mile-per-hour zone, he encountered slowing traffic and could not slow his truck fast enough. First he struck a Toyota RAV4, propelling it into a Jeep Compass. The dump truck then careened into the opposite lane, where it collided head-on with a Honda CR-V. Yet another vehicle, a Chevrolet Colorado, collided with the wreckage.

The driver of the Honda, 53-year-old Cinnamon Gilch, was killed.

Forensic examination of Simon’s cellphone revealed that he was engaged in a FaceTime video call which had lasted 46 minutes up until the time of the crash.

Eyewitnesses told police they believed Simon was looking down and not paying attention to the road.

The dump truck also was found to have four preexisting violations which would have failed it in an inspection.